Chapter 49, After Gina Disappeared – Part 1

Translator: Lizz

 

When Gina ran away from home, it was the morning after she had left that the master, his wife, and their son realized she was gone.

 

It was because Gina hadn’t been having dinner with everyone for quite some time.

Long ago, when they sat at the table together, the master had said sarcastically,

“Sitting leisurely at the table during such a busy time, how carefree. If you’ve got that much free time, you should’ve taken on more work.”

Because of that remark, Gina wouldn’t eat until she had a handle on her work, and she would eat cold meals alone late at night.

 

Furthermore, Gina had been told by the mistress to wake up earlier than anyone else and finish cleaning and laundry before having breakfast. But on the morning after she ran away, she naturally didn’t show up for breakfast, and the laundry hadn’t been done either. That was when they finally realized Gina was gone.

 

“Hey, Gina still hasn’t come down. Go call her.”

Said the mistress, and her only son, Katio, protested.

“Why do I have to go call Gina!?”

“Because there’s no one else to go, that’s why. Just go already!”

Ordered by the master, Katio clicked his tongue and reluctantly got up.

 

“…Making me waste my time!”

Fuming with anger, he flung open Gina’s door, ready to yell.

“Hey! How long are you gonna sleep-”

His words trailed off.

 

Gina wasn’t in bed. In fact, she wasn’t in the room at all.

Katio frowned, stepped out, and peeked around various places, but there was no sign of her. That was when he finally realized something was wrong.

 

He returned to the dining table, where the master and mistress had already finished eating and were relaxing, and reported,

“Gina’s not in her room.”

 

The master and mistress exchanged glances.

But then,

“Maybe she’s already working?”

“She didn’t have dinner yesterday, so she’s probably busy with a deadline approaching… Still, I wish she had done the laundry.”

‘We’ll have to scold her later’, the mistress said casually as she stood up.

 

Katio furrowed his brow as he ate breakfast.

He found Gina’s absence and her unusual behavior suspicious. After all, she had acted strangely the day before.

Gina had never before spoken cheekily or asked for things. That had been unheard of.

 

After finishing his meal, he went back to Gina’s room and searched around, but there wasn’t any noticeable decrease in her clothing.

She hadn’t been given any allowance, so she didn’t have money. And if she had been given any, he would’ve taken it from her.

“…But something’s bothering me. What was it…”

 

Gina had hardly been given anything to begin with.

She had some clothes, some sewing tools for work, ledgers and receipts. It wasn’t a girl’s room by any stretch.

Even so, as Katio rummaged around, feeling that something was off, he finally noticed it.

 

“That’s right…”

The bag he had thrown at her was gone.

“…That girl!”

He was furious, thinking she had stolen his bag.

 

But he couldn’t accuse her.

That bag had originally been given to Gina.

If it had been something the master and mistress had given her, he could have claimed it as his own. But that bag had come from one of Gina’s relatives. That was precisely why he hadn’t liked it and had taken it from her. If he recklessly claimed, ‘It’s mine’, it would only stir up trouble.

 

He understood that even if he told the master and mistress, ‘I want it back because it’s mine’, they wouldn’t listen. If it were something valuable, maybe. But a worn-out bag? They’d just say, ‘If that’s all it takes to satisfy her, let her have it’.

 

“But what could she possibly do with just a bag?”

He wondered…

But as he kept rummaging persistently, he finally noticed.

“…There’s not a single piece of underwear.”

 

She had left her clothes behind, but taken her underwear.

 

Katio finally realized what it meant. He rushed back to the master and mistress and shouted,

“That damn Gina ran away from home!”

 

The master and mistress were stunned at first, then flew into a rage. Of course, Katio did too.

He rushed into the workshop and asked the arriving workers if they had seen Gina, but everyone shook their heads.

They searched all over the house and workshop, but Gina was nowhere to be found.

 

Even so, at that moment, neither Katio nor the master and mistress took it too seriously.

None of the household money had been touched – or rather, it was managed by the master and mistress in a way that made it inaccessible, so Gina had taken no money.

On top of that, she had been working in the workshop constantly and didn’t have any real friends.

Packing only her underwear into a bag and leaving – she would only be able to hide for a few days at most.

 

Though the three of them were angry, they also felt a bit guilty, knowing it was about the fiancé from the day before.

They hadn’t meant it seriously, but they had once joked, ‘Gina should just marry Katio’, and the fiancé’s behavior toward Gina yesterday had been far from commendable.

 

Still.

They thought it was arrogant of her to run away from home just to make a point.

 

“Katio got engaged and she got sulky. She’ll be back soon.”

“We need to scold her properly!”

“I’ll discipline her again myself.”

 

They exchanged those words, and that was the end of it.